Category Archives: Uncategorized

Another Cycle of the Moon, poem by Christopher Reilley

Anoth­er month, rent is due, bills on the first, auto loan on the fif­teenth, four Sun­day din­ners and inter­est accrues. The rit­u­al of mik­vah; the Ortho­dox bath of fam­i­ly. Wel­fare checks come due, get your nails done, girl, social secu­ri­ty pays out on the third, … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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Lovelock, poem by Michael N. Thompson

The gul­ley behind the bowl­ing alley is a grave­yard of rust­ed bicy­cle frames, soda pop bot­tles and bust­ed kites Refin­ery boys march with match­ing lunch pails and the cha­grin worn is as plain as day Most of them knocked up the girls they knew from … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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if something is beautiful, poem by Mark Hartenbach

if some­thing is beau­ti­ful it doesn’t have to say any­thing. it doesn’t have to mat­ter. it doesn’t have to work it. it doesn’t have to fit in or be sur­round­ed by com­pli­men­ta­ry esthet­ics. if some­thing is beau­ti­ful the steam ris­es off … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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Southern Girl, fiction by Chella Courington

Homage to Jamaica Kin­caid Don’t smoke cig­a­rettes, and if you do, nev­er smoke in the house or on a date; and by all means don’t walk while smok­ing or you’ll look trashy; don’t drink till you’re twen­­ty-one, and not much … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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Honky-Tonk, poem by David Jibson

Out­side, a mer­cury vapor lamp on its tall wood­en pole throws blue fire down onto the grav­el park­ing lot below, where cow­boys rid­ing pick up trucks instead of hors­es scuf­fle with each oth­er in the shad­ows to pre­serve their hon­or. Blood and spit damp­en the earth. … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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September Fields, poem by Andrew Taylor

Through hedgerow gaps between trees an undu­la­tion per­haps it’s to do with colour a gold­en calm sets in at summer’s end spi­ders come in from cool­ing night air heat­ing is enter­tained flow­ers last through though the evenings don’t gath­er wood like wind­falls essen­tial … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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DWI, poem by CL Bledsoe

They pulled Dad over on the way home from vis­it­ing us at Aunt Louise’s house where we were stay­ing while the divorce went through. His truck died, so he shut off his lights, cranked it, and flipped them back on. A cop … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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A Trip to Town, fiction by Nick Heeb

(orig­i­nal­ly appeared in Revenge) Stan­ley Thun­der Hawk leaned back into the couch. He had just tak­en a snort of meth and the kick knocked him back against the torn uphol­stery. His heart raced and the world sped past, images blurred. … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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Donkey Lady Bridge, fiction by Misti Rainwater-Lites

There weren’t any prayers or tears left. Stor­mi was brought up Bap­tist and that shit was hard to shake. She was too intense and weird and had too many god­damn ques­tions to be a Pin­ter­est mom but her heart was … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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Nude with Boots, story by Tom Leins

"Same again – no ice." The bar­man glares at me. I don’t blame him. No one likes being told how to do their job. *** Slattery’s Meat Mar­ket is sit­u­at­ed in an ugly, unre­mark­able part of town. It used to be a … Con­tin­ue read­ing

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